What is Azure Container Instances?

In this article

Containers are becoming the preferred way to package, deploy, and manage cloud applications. Azure Container Instances offers the fastest and simplest way to run a container in Azure, without having to manage any virtual machines and without having to adopt a higher-level service.

Azure Container Instances is a great solution for any scenario that can operate in isolated containers, including simple applications, task automation, and build jobs. For scenarios where you need full container orchestration, including service discovery across multiple containers, automatic scaling, and coordinated application upgrades, we recommend Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS).

Fast startup times

Container access

Azure Container Instances enables exposing your container groups directly to the internet with an IP address and a fully qualified domain name (FQDN). When you create a container instance, you can specify a custom DNS name label so your application is reachable at customlabel.azureregion.azurecontainer.io.

Azure Container Instances also supports executing a command in a running container by providing an interactive shell to help with application development and troubleshooting. Access takes places over HTTPS, using TLS to secure client connections.

Important

Starting January 13, 2020, Azure Container Instances will require all secure connections from servers and applications to use TLS 1.2. Support for TLS 1.0 and 1.1 will be retired.

Hypervisor-level security

Historically, containers have offered application dependency isolation and resource governance but have not been considered sufficiently hardened for hostile multi-tenant usage. Azure Container Instances guarantees your application is as isolated in a container as it would be in a VM.

Custom sizes

Containers are typically optimized to run just a single application, but the exact needs of those applications can differ greatly. Azure Container Instances provides optimum utilization by allowing exact specifications of CPU cores and memory. You pay based on what you need and get billed by the second, so you can fine-tune your spending based on actual need.

Use of Windows Server 2019-based images in Azure Container Instances is in preview.

Co-scheduled groups

Azure Container Instances supports scheduling of multi-container groups that share a host machine, local network, storage, and lifecycle. This enables you to combine your main application container with other supporting role containers, such as logging sidecars.